I am in San Francisco for the Supernova 2007 conference. I flew in from Amsterdam yesterday afternoon and in the early evening, went to a party sponsored by Jaiku. Today, I chaired a panel on better broadband. There are parties tonight and tomorrow night, plus two more days of conference sessions. I’m exhausted and jet lagged.

The best way to burn out is to ignore the body. That’s why I developed several ways to deal with stress and tiredness.

(1) Take naps: I do this not only when I travel across timezones, but almost everyday. My naps are 10-15 minutes and I wake up refreshed. Nap time for me is 3:00 pm.

(2) Meditate: What happens when you meditate is that you quiet down the white noise in your head. You become more focused when you work, you become more aware of your thoughts and feelings.

(3) Exercise everyday for at least 45 minutes: I run and work out in the health club almost daily (taking a day off). I find that when I exercise, my mood improves. I am actually happier and more creative. I realize this does not seem like “rest” but when I run, it’s meditative.

(4) Go out of town into nature: take a walk in the woods or along the beach, sail, ride your bike or go on a hike.

Unless I get rest, I work less efficiently and I’m crankier. I find my creativity suffers.

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